In case of emergency, have a birthday party
by tyleroswald
Summary: On her 11th birthday, Jessica Stark had a lot of moments she will certainly not forget. From her first big crush to a nice gift from Uncle Rhodes, she is reminded that her family will always be there for her. This is part of Jessie Stark's series.


It was Jessica's 11th birthday. The girl didn't have many friends since she was homeschooled from an early age. Her friends were from some classes she attended, her neighbors and some children of her father's friends. She had also Pepper's family, which she constantly visited. So the party had some of Pepper's cousins running around.

Oh, yeah, the party, let's talk about that. It was a restaurant with the view of the Santa Monica beach. Early night, and the restaurant led to a private portion of the beach reserved only for them. It had a few light poles made of wood and the whole party followed a sea theme. There was live music and magicians at one corner, the first ones playing tunes and songs requested by the guests. The waiters and waitresses were dressed as Hawaiians and the sand was covered with flowers petals. And finally, the cake sitting on the big table placed right in the middle of the environment they were in, it had the format of a shell - specially made for this event.

Even though the party had a lot of people working on it to make it work, it didn't had many guests. And those were divided by small groups, sitting in specific tables.

These groups were, as the young birthday girl would classify them: Cool adults, which consisted of Pepper Potts (her father's P.A. and the woman she considered to be her mother after the passing of her real mom), Happy Hogan (the family's security guard and chauffeur, also family to her), Uncle Rhodes (Colonel James Rhodes, her father's best friend who was very funny and she really liked him), Ms. Connolly (her tutor and her French teacher), Ms. Riverdale (she worked at Stark and was usually at her house discussing work things with her father), Mr. Porter (her piano teacher) and, finally, Tony Stark, her father and CEO of Stark Industries. There was also a woman she didn't know very well, but her dad said she was family and important, so she was coming. Her name was Peggy Carter, an old British lady who was surprisingly very sweet. It appears she worked with her grandfather, so Jessie actually liked her because sometimes it seemed that everything related to her Grandpa and Grandma were dead, but Peggy wasn't. Therefore, she was cool - so she belonged in this table.

Next in the list, the children's table. And that wasn't really a table, there were a lot of cushions over a free-sand area, so the little ones could sit and be comfortable. It was close to the cake and it had a lot of toys and gadgets to play with. Apart from Jessica Stark, the birthday girl, there were a few children. Well, specifically, eight. Two of them were Andrew and Angela, Pepper's cousins with whom Jessie would spend some time when she visited Pepper's family. The other two were her neighbours, Catherine and Rachel, who played with her frequently at her place. And the last four were children of her father's friends. Investors, people who they visited in many of their trips abroad and who she ended up playing with and talking eventually.

But among those last four, there was was someone special. That person was named Erik Gillespie, a tall handsome boy with blue eyes and black hair in which she had a _big_ crush on.

Erik was son of Mr. Gillespie, head of Gillespie Inc. located in Italy. Jessie visited their mansions several times when her father traveled there to talk business. He used to bring her around to get to know the city and the house. He spoke Italian, French, English, Spanish and played the guitar gorgeously. Every time that boy was near her, her heart pounded faster. She was too shy to talk to Pepper about him, but she was sure when she pulled Rachel and Cath by the side, whispering.

"D'you guys remember that boy I talked about once? Erik?" She quickly said.

"Italian Prince Erik?" Cath answered with a low voice. "Is he _here?"  
_

"Oh my God, Prince Erik is here and the party is sea themed. I'm so jealous and freaking out right now." Rachel unfortunately, didn't know how to keep it quiet.

"Shhh, Rachel! He's gonna hear you!" The Stark one exasperated, looking over her shoulder to check on any unwanted attention to the three of them. "What do I do?"

"What do you mean?" Cathy frowned.

"Do I tell him I like him?" Jessica asked.

"No! I mean, I don't know." Rachel shrugged. "I mean, I wouldn't." The girl looked down at her phone.

"You should ask him out. Or.. I don't know. Show him the city like he does to you when you're there." Catherine suggested sitting down on an yellow cushion.

Jessie nodded, surprised. "You always have good advice, Cathy. Different than other people."

"Oi!" The blonde one, Rachel, complained, throwing an empty soda can on the girl.

"Jessie, dear, it's time to cut the cake." Pepper approached them instantly putting an end to their conversation.

So Jessica followed the red headed woman while she walked around the room, passing by the table we didn't talked about yet: boring adults. Basically Tony Stark's investors and partners, parents of the children we talked before. Including, Mr. Gillespie - you know who. Tony was sitting in that table right now with Monica Riverdale, both of them laughing at some joke the girl didn't hear. Her father had a glass of whiskey in one hand and the other arm was wrapped around Riverdale's shoulders. The entire table was noisy and happy - a little _too_ happy that concerned both Pepper and Jessie. The girls knew Tony and those type of people too well to know when they started to get drunk. And Mr. Stark had been holding a glass since he arrived.

Pepper led the girl close to the "seashell cake" and tapped a glass with a spoon so the chinking noise would get the attention of everybody. "Listen everybody, it is time to wish this big girl a Happy Birthday!"

"Hey!" Tony spoke out load and got up, tumbling toward both women. "Happy Birthday to you…" He chanted as he approached them and everybody followed. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday…" Her father, now in front of her, kneeled in one knee and grabbed a flower from inside his jacket - the same flower that were decorating the tables - with a smirk and then a grimace that made the girl laugh. "dear Jessie…" And as she took the flower, he kissed her in the forehead. "Happy Birthday to you."

The girl looked around and smiled, taking the scene in. She usually complained that she didn't go to school and didn't have many friends like a normal child would. She would daily complain on how much pressure she had just because her father was who he was, and that he was always busy doing something else. But the girl actually liked her little unusual life. It was in moments like this where she realized she complained too much. Well, she wouldn't stop, but at least right now she felt everything was alright and she had a small family that loved her. Pepper, Happy and Rhodes, all of them were so nice and always there. Even her father - who was always little drunk and sometimes a pain in the ass, she loved him too.

Tony stood by her side and Pepper stepped up to cut the cake. As the woman sliced the knife into the seashell, a surprise. Inside it, just like an oyster, something shiny waited for her. The woman took it and handled it to Jessie, who was so excited that quickly opened the tiny box to see what was lying inside.

A necklace, a silver necklace with a round pendant and a small button on it. She pressed the button and one side of the pendant lighted up with an image - an hologram of three people: Herself, her father and her mother. The holographic woman looked older to what Jessie last remembered of her, but she knew the warmth of those hazel eyes. And, oh boy.. she did miss them too.

"She'd look like if she were here today." Tony said in a low voice with a small smile. The three of them looked so happy in that hologram that she felt like crying. And the girl knew she would hold that thing close to her heart forever. But she wouldn't cry in front of everyone. And certainly _not_ in front of Erik. "She'd be proud."

"Thank you, Dad." Jessica hugged him as he ducked and she buried her little face in the man's chest. Tony stood up and lifted up her daughter in the air, kissing her head. She let out a few tears that were absorbed by his navy blue blazer. "I really loved it."

Pepper stood by their side waiting with a plate in her hand, handling it to Jessie once she was back in the ground and out of her father's grip. "Now the first piece of cake."

The little one cleared her throat, making up her mind and taking a deep breath. "The first piece of cake goes to..", she turned to the side and looked at the tall young boy with black hair and blue eyes but her plan was interrupted by another man with black hair and the slight smell of alcohol at her side.

"Her father, the man who paid for this party and hopefully the only important man of your life until you're 30." All adults in the room laughed and the girl let Tony take the cake of her hand with a sigh of disappointment.

"Now the _second_ piece," She raised her voice above the laughs, "goes to Erik Gillespie."

The laughter quickly stopped, like a wave. Actually, another sort of laughter grew. "Because he is really.. nice." Jessica added, trying to conceive her embarrassment while Erik stood up, walking to her and taking the plate from her hands with a smile that made her legs weaken. Tony cleared his throat and walked back to the table he was before. "I've got my eyes on you, buddy. 'm having a chat with your father right now, so you better keep it in your pants."

With that, Jessica really wanted to shout at her father, and the familiar emotional moment passed. So the party went on. Everybody went to the conversations they were before, yet Jessie couldn't seem to relax. She wanted to go down and talk to Erik, but she was strangely afraid. But well, first step had been hers, after all. So she was going to wait a bit more before doing anything.

And the minutes went by as the girl played with other children and spoke to some of the adults. Erik was more reserved, but very observant of his surroundings. He spend a long time talking to another kid a bit older than the others there, Ezekiel Stane. Zeke was the son of Obadiah Stane, the man who runned the company alongside Tony and someone Jessie never really actually liked. He was always cold and he seemed… fake. It was like he was always pretending to be nice and like her when he actually wasn't. Pepper usually said it was something of her head and that Obie was real nice and he took care of Tony when Grampa died but, well. There are somethings we can't explain.

Lastly, a few people had already left and the part was getting to the boring part. Jessie found her way to the "cool adults" table, sitting next to her teachers and Aunt Peggy. She really liked that last woman but didn't actually know why. Sometimes it seemed like she looked at her and her father with the sort of look she'd seen only in other grandmas to their grandchildren. It felt like Peggy was the only thing there was left of her grandparents, so the girl usually tried to ask her things about them since it was a matter they never talked at home. And after a few minutes of conversation someone came by the table, interrupting them.

"I'm sorry, Jessica and Mrs…"

"Carter." The woman answered the good-looking boy with a smile, her eyes going to Jessie with a bit of amusement on them. Then, she let out a smirk. "I think the two of you have a lot of talk." She got up after some effort, and caressed Jessie's hand. "I'll go check on your father."

"I just wanted to.. thank you about the cake." Erik cleared out his throat, hands on his pockets.

And as the elder woman stepped away, the girl's eyes went to the person in front of her. "You're welcome." She shrugged, trying to hide away the butterflies in her stomach.

He smiled back.

And…

That was it.

Silence from both parts. She was staring at his shirt and his eyes were fixed on her necklace.

"I just wanted to give something to you in return. Cause you're always so nice when we go visit you." The words of the last sentence were laid out quickly, like it was a hot potato. Her eyes rose up for a few seconds just to check if he was looking to her, and Erik tilted his head with a smile in return.

"I'm just polite. It's the least I can do for our guests." He shrugged.

Ouch. Was he being indifferent? She started to wonder if Erik even felt the same for her as she did for him. But then why was he here talking to her? What was it for? And what would her father do in such case? He was so good with making people like him. Well, women mostly - but most people in general.

"Maybe I can show you around the city? This is my place after all." She looked up to him with an attempt to replicate her father's confidence. "Then you could go to my house afterwards."

The boy let out a small laugh passing his fingers on his hair. Jessie held her instant reaction to not sigh at that beauty in front of her. "I'd have to check with my parents when we're leaving. But if there is time, I'd love to let you take me out on a ride."

"Erik!" Mr. Gillespie called out from the table he was sitting. "We're leaving."

"Gotta dash. I'll let my PA tell yours know if your date is up. Tomorrow max." His eyes went from his father back to her.

"No prob." Jessie shrugged, wanting to sound just as indifferent as he did before.

"See ya, Jess." He kissed her in the cheek and ran towards his father.

Thing is - she wasn't expecting the kiss. So she just froze there for almost a minute with her hand over where his lips touched until Pepper showed up.

"Jessica, your father just left." The woman was clearly furious. "Yes. He left you behind in the day your birthday. Listen, uh...the kids are basically all gone and I promised my mom I'd take the cousins back home before midnight. We can go home and then do something fun there, what'd you think?"

"Is Happy going with you?" Jessie asked with a disappointed voice. Her father promised they would have an amazing afterparty. She was going to be up super late and having fun with her dad, maybe they'd watch a movie or go somewhere she didn't know yet. The only thing now was that they weren't. Oh, super.

"Yep." The red headed nodded in an affirmative response.

They would've gone bowling, or to the movies, or maybe golf. Or none of those, cause he just left with Ms. Riverdale. And the worst of all is that this situation was so common that she wasn't even mad. She was just.. disappointed. Not surprised at all.

"I don't wanna go home now." Jessie complained. "I'll stay behind."

"Yeah, alone? Not gonna happen." Pepper had her purse in one her hand, not looking like she wanted to discuss the subject.

"Yeah, it _is_ happening. It's my birthday." The girl stated, convicted.

"The party is over, Jessica."

"But the after party didn't even start yet." Somehow it became a dispute? Yeah, in Jessica's mind, it was now a matter of ego.

"Hey girls, excuse me. I can take care of the birthday lady and then take her home afterwards." James Rhodes put himself into the conversation, hands up and a smile as he was trying not to be yelled at.

"You don't need to, Rhodey." Pepper calmly answered. Her eyes were stiff and they glared at Jessie like she was ready to going the dispute.

"Tony left with Amanda, right?" Rhodes got closer and put his hand on Pepper's arm, calling the woman's attention to him. "Go get some rest. It's no big deal, really."

"Rhodey-" Pepper started to complain, yet visibly tired.

"Pep." He interrupted her. "Go. We'll be fine."

The redhead finally nodded and raised her eyebrows to the girl who was just watching them talk. "We'll have a chat about that attitude later. Take care."

Jessica smiled to her until she was far away from them, so the smile automatically faded. "No, we won't."

Rhodes laughed. "I can easily hear an young Tony saying those words."

"Nah ah, I'm not like him. I wouldn't leave my daughter behind in her own birthday just to get laid."

"Oi, language! Where did you learn that?" Rhodes raised a brow.

"Guess who." She shot back.

"For God's sake, Tony better what his mouth around kids." He rolled his eyes.

"Hey, I'm not a kid anymore." Jessie crossed her arms and pouted.

"Jessica, you are _eleven_. Don't even start." He raised his hand as a 'stop sign' to her and then made a gesture for her to follow him. "Now come, let's go somewhere fun."

She got up the chair with a little jump. "The after party train is departing, everyone!"

He let out a grin and hugged her by her shoulders as they walked to Rhodey's car. Uncle James was always around the house and events, and she knew that he had been friends with her father for a long time now.

"Uncle Rhodey, when did you and my dad meet?" Jessie asked as she entered the car and closed the door.

"MIT, 1986." He answered. "But you knew that already."

"Yeah, but I'm not talking about dates, I'm talking about a moment. Like, a class or someone in common or... I dunno."

"Well, we met in class." He stated and the car engine's answered with a soft humming. "We had a few classes together and he was a real pain in the ass, a smart 16 years-old kid who acted like he knew better then all of us."

Jessie smiled as she pictured the scene. Even though that trait was something really annoying about her dad, she secretly liked when people said that "she had too much of Stark in her". She didn't even had to have known her grandfather to assume he was just like that too.

"Then, there was this competition within the whole Institute. The William Barton Rogers' Race. We had to come up with a functional machine to solve any problem MIT students went through daily."

"Hm, so you did a project together." The girl affirmed.

"We? I wanted nothing than distance from that smartass. But I was having problems with my project though, and I was too damn stubborn to ask anyone for help. I knew your father was doing better on his idea so I spent day and night on it, missed classes and stuff. One night before the competition's due date, there was this knock on my door and a note slipped under." He let out a grin as he pulled over the parking lot of a place called Ice Cream Paradise. That place always meant heaven on Earth for Jessica. She smiled from cheek to cheek. "I knew you'd like coming here." He turned off the car and jumped out of it, followed by the brown haired girl as they walked through the parking lot.

"What did the note say?" She was curious about the story.

"It said: 'We both know Imma win the Barton Rogers', but you deserve to finish your project. Remember that Carnot was wrong, Qh is greater than Qc.'." He answered and opened the door to let the girl in.

"And pretending I get what that means, was he right?" The doorbell announced their entrance.

"Unfortunately," he continued with a chuckle. "to my ego, he was, yes. He also ended up winning the race afterwards." They both sat at a table close to the balcony. "But I never forgot what he did, cause I managed to finish my project after that. Next day in class I sat close to him and we started taking. And-"

"You're here today." She finished.

"I'm here today." Rhodes smiled and patted her nose with his finger, making the girl let out a grimace. As the waitress - blonde, strangely well humored for this time of the day, wearing a white short dress and a royal blue apron - approached them, Rhodey still had a smile up on his face when he answered her. "I'm having a strawberry milkshake with a tad of rum and the birthday lady here is having the house's special."

"Oh, is it your birthday?" She looked surprised, and Jessie nodded affirmatively. "Then it's gonna be on the house. You're having very sweet night, I promise." She picked up the menus that were over the table and turned away, but stopped in the middle of the movement. "Hang on, do I know you from somewhere? I think I've seen you before."

"Well, she comes here a lot, gotta tell ya that." Rhodey answered before the girl could open her mouth.

Jessie shrugged. "I do love Ice Cream Paradise."

"Well then." The woman, who had a badge with 'Eliza' written on it, waltzed away from them and they just waited.

To get things short, the rest of the night went on in an amazing course of events. Even better than the party before where she had all those people to talk and her father was all loud and sipping as many glasses as he would have laid eyes upon. This moment here with Rhodes was so nice and calm. It was something she was sure it'd be in her memories for a very long time. Eliza came back with a huge bowl of banana split with small party hats in the top, and two bigger hats - one for Jessie and the other for Rhodey. Everybody on the ice cream - the three of them, the cashier and two people in the kitchen and a young couple of customers - sang happy birthday to her.

And then, it was over as fast as the snap of their fingers. Pepper was already calling both of them worried because it was late in the night and she wanted Jessie to be home by now. They were actually planning on going to amusement parks if JARVIS could find any of it open at that time of the night. But Rhodes decided that it was best to listen to Pepper this time, and he drove Jessica back home.

She was silent for most part of the ride back because she didn't wanted to go home, not just yet. But Rhodey knew how to get under her skin and make her laugh, pulling her back to a conversation just like she'd seen he do it before with her dad when he was angry. The lights were all up when they arrived, and Rhodey told Jessica to wait after she got out of the car and before she made her way towards the door.

"I almost forgot." He came back for something in the car, a small box wrapped in red paper. James Rhodes approached the little girl and crouched close to Jessica, handling her the gift. "Happy Birthday, Jessie."

She tore the paper quickly and held the box with a frown. The object was made of metal, and in the top it read: "In case of emergency: open the box". Jessica followed the instructions - even though the emergency here was purely her curiosity - and inside the metal container there was a small phone with a note that said: 'If you dad isn't around and you're feeling lonely, give me a call. Happy B-Day, big girl.'

"Thank you, Uncle Rhodey." The girl shyly said, holding the box closer to her chest, smiling from cheek to cheek.

"C'mon, give me a big hug." He opened his arms and the girl went running to his hug, squeezing him with all the strength she had. While wrapped up on his arms, she felt just like when her dad gave her his gift, she knew for absolute certainty that she was loved and she had someone else to count in. Even if (or when) her father let her down, Rhodes would be there.

This was family meant and she knew, in that moment, that everything was going to be fine. And if it wasn't - that was alright too.

"Now get in before Pepper kills us both." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and the girl ran back home with a new spot of safety held dear in her little hands.


End file.
